The Sabercats captured the USSSA 18u Labor Day NIT championship in a major way Monday with a 13-2 victory over the West Valley Warriors at Peoria Sports Complex.

The Cats put the game away with six runs in the top of the fifth.

The inning got off to a rough start after Daniel Cabral doubled. A batter later, Cabral was thrown out at third on Ben Tingley’s attempted sacrifice bunt. Tingley reached first on the fielder's choice.

However, the Sabercats recovered when they received a gift a play later. Ryan Madsen singled and made it all the way to third on an error. Tingley scored on the play to give the Cats an 8-2 lead.

A batter later, Casey Scott drove home Madsen with a bloop single to right field. Following the hit, Austin Anderson bounced a single over second base and Alex Real walked to load the bases for slugger Brendon Demfrest.

Demfrest came through for the Cats with a bases clearing triple that gave the team a 12-2 lead and put it in place for a run-rule victory. Demfrest scored later in the inning on a David Real groundout to short.

Demfrest finished the game a home run short of the cycle. He went 3-for-3 with a single, double, triple and a walk.

The Sabercats turned to Scott in the bottom of the inning to close out the win. The powerful righty retired the side in order and struck out one to preserve the win for starter Travis Steinheiser.

Steinheiser pitched four innings of two-run ball to pick up the victory. He struck out four and walked one.

The Sabercats scored their first two runs of the game in the first when Anderson and Demfrest scored on an error.

The team added four more runs in the second inning, highlighted by Tingley’s leadoff double. After a sac bunt by Madsen, Scott scored Tingley on a perfectly executed suicide squeeze.

The Warriors responded with a run of their own in the bottom of the third inning. Able Rascon doubled to right-centerfield with one out and scored two batters later when leadoff man Caleb Conner laced a single past the shortstop to make it a 6-1 game.

The Sabercats took a 7-1 lead when Anderson plated Scott with an RBI double in the top of the fourth.

Anderson, batting in the one spot, finished the game 3-for-3 with two singles, a double and a walk. He stole one base and scored three runs.

The Warriors scored their last run of the game in the fourth inning when Brent McClure walked, moved to second on an error and scored on a single by Angel Hernandez.